The Unexpected
by theonesakura
Summary: He did something that wrecked her dreams. But at the same time it made her grow into the person she is today. However, how will she face up to the past with him constantly around her? Or better yet will they both be faced with the unexpected? Non massacre


He did something that wrecked her dreams. But at the same time it made her grow into the person she is today. However, how will she face up to the past with him constantly around her? Or better yet will they both be faced with the unexpected? Non massacre Itachi X Sakura

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><p><em><span>The unexpected<span>_

_Peace_ and _quiet_.

Those were the two words that described Itachi Uchiha's current state, and he most certainly did not want the ease of his respite to dissipate anytime soon. They were the two things he needed most, after the hysterics of this day; he had taken the ANBU examination that morning, surpassing all expectations and, naturally, passing with flying colors. It was what was expected of him, after all…

Yes, he had passed, and he had received many congratulations from both family and friends, but he had wearied of listening to his father's constant praises of his skill and his nagging about how it was now time for Itachi to take on impossibly highly classified missions so as to get into the third Hokage's good graces (which would gradually lead to the nin of the village, and the Hokage himself, putting their trust in Itachi). Such things tested his forbearance like nothing else could, and were not something he would wish upon even the worst of enemies.

The weight that his surname bore had haunted him since before he could remember. The first man to man conversation, as Fugaku Uchiha was fond of calling such one sided discussions, he ever had with his father involved outlining the important duties that, as clan heir, Itachi must bear burden to; they were important tasks, integral to the success of the prodigy of the clan and to the continuance of the Uchiha name. And failure in this venue was not an option.

It was a great deal of pressure to put on a six year old boy at the time, especially on the first day that he was entering the ninja academy, but Itachi had taken his appointed duty to heart and obeyed his esteemed predecessor, just as he always had. It was not his place to act out, after all.

Since that day, Itachi had never been able to take part in the average childhood experience. He would see children his age running around playing pranks, laughing with their friends, beginning to think about the opposite gender (despite having no inclination towards the subject himself, he suffered from adoring crowds of starry eyed fangirls following him around whenever he entered town, practically squealing in their desire to win his heart, his hand, or even just his eye) but he could not bring himself to even be jealous of what they had and he lacked.

The desire to act so childishly had been hammered out of him at such a young age that he wouldn't have known how to act even if he had _tried_ to indulge in the whims of his age group.

No, he had no part in that world. He was an Uchiha, the eldest son of the clan head and thus was above such things as games, frivolity and even considering the blushing girls who fought over him on a daily basis. He had more important things to do -like meditate and impress and always, _endlessly,_ train. It was simply unheard of that, at the bare age of twelve, a shinobi could achieve the rank of ANBU, and without difficulty for that matter, but for him it had taken less than half of his capabilities.

It was only natural; of course… he was called a genius for a reason.

It was for the reason of escaping the weight of decorum and onus that he found himself comfortably situated at the foot of one of the flowering trees lining the lands his clan owned. Gazing lazily around himself, he watched the swaying branches, drifting buds, and swirling leaves of the other trees. Birds sang and twisted above him in the clear, bright sky as the sun climbed to the highest perch it could reach, and even though he knew that he would have to return soon, he took solace in the absence of company.

Itachi sighed quietly, settling his back more firmly against the bark of the tree behind himself and closed his eyes; trying to shut out the world and his own thoughts, both at least for the moment. He had, perhaps, a little more than one half hour before he would be forced to re-join the merrymaking that had been forced upon him today and he wanted to enjoy his privacy for as long as he could.

His father had been far too impressed by his success that morning, in Itachi's opinion, and had consequently thought it a grand scheme to celebrate his achievement by holding a gathering of sorts so that he could gloat over _his_ son's fine accomplishment. There was nothing his father enjoyed more than rubbing the fact that he had sired such a prodigy in his colleague's and family member's faces, and Itachi's appointment to the rank of ANBU was more than enough reason to do so.

This, consequentially and annoyingly, led to the whole of the clan assembling in one of the fields owned by their family. Slews of bragging men, groups of gossiping women, and crowds of exulting children eating, conversing and generally enjoying themselves in "honor" of Itachi's achievement were all there. While he was not as ungrateful as to not accept the many pats on the back that he had received, and to politely acknowledge the unending reminders of the great things he would accomplish in the family's name, Itachi had quickly wearied of the handling and had sought for a way to gain some peace of mind, alone.

He was by nature a being of solitude, and being surrounded by people when all he wanted was some time to himself set him at odds. And so he had used the first opportunity to excuse himself that he could and had slipped away into the trees bordering the field that his family wandered within the confines of. It was not difficult to do; even among the ranks of so many accomplished shinobi. The skill of remaining unseen when he wished was numbered among his many other talents.

Perhaps he was selfish for wanting to be alone at such a time, but he did so much for others that he felt that, once in a great while, he deserved to have something for himself. But then, after he had taken his time and peace from his lonesome venture, he would return to his erstwhile duties and go back to doing what he was supposed to. Itachi was not so foolish as to not know his own heart, and while he was content with his own company, he was also aware of the undying loyalty he felt towards those of his own blood, willing or not.

Most would have been bitter with their place in the world, discontented with the thought of being seen only as an object of furtherment and predetermined to bring to sow only the highest of undertakings. He had been told he was different from the moment of his birth, and he knew that it was true. But not for the reasoning's that others thought. Yes, he had the potential to make the impossible a reality, as seen by his success that morning. And yes, he had a drive to become the best, accepting nothing but the highest of results from himself.

But little to the knowledge of all was the true face of his ambition. He would attain power, he would achieve greatness as was required of him, but with it he would not become the ruthless shinobi that all expected him to be. With the skill and strength he gained, he would protect the people who needed the shielding most… his family.

Even at his age, when other children thought little of such difficulties as war and death, Itachi was aware of the society he lived in. Upon his successful return from his many varying missions and reporting to the Hokage, the blood covering his uniform and hands inspired fear in all who saw him. When he stood before the council, testifying on behalf of this action or that comrade, the looks he garnered from the elders were ones of judgmental loftiness and silent hope that one day, he would fail and fall to an enemy's hand.

He knew the reason for these things, though the knowledge did little in the way of pleasing him. He may be a shinobi, highly ranked and very gifted, but there were others who were just as great, or greater, than him who received praise rather than hate. He was given such animosity and treated with such general antipathy because of the blood in his veins, because of the kekkei genkai he possessed and because of the lineage he had descended from.

His family was not well loved by the shinobi society, for reasons he did not know but could guess at (though only privately). While it was not widely known that he would do anything and everything to keep his family from harm, the cold fury he displayed when defending a member of his clan was evident to any who saw it and conclusions of the truth could be draw simply from that. There would always be that fear that if one day the elders were to turn against his clan, Itachi would protect them with every inch of his capability.

Despite having been brought up in a time of war, Itachi was well known to be a pacifist; a man who would rather avoid a fight than start one and who would do all in his power to keep his precious people from being embroiled in the fighting than they already were. He often had nightmares of the corpses he had created, the bodies of dangerous enemy nin he had killed and the broken figures of innocents that had fallen for being in the wrong place at the wrong time, scattered in bloody pools and rancorous heaps at his feet.

Just knowing that those dead, empty eyes staring up at his horrified visage could be someone he knew, his mother, his cousin or one of his many aunts and uncles, gave him the resolve he needed to press onward, to train harder to avoid the chance of something like that happening at all costs.

He would defend his family to the end and make their safety the reason for his success so that he could sleep well at night, but it did not seem like enough. Surely there was a better way to convince himself of the right in his actions than to protect those who were merely using him unabashedly. Then, seven years ago, he had received a reason. An all-consuming, bone-numbing and core shattering purpose for everything he did. A true and real aim to go on with his training, to keep on in his quest to become the best…

Sasuke.

From the moment he had seen the small boy, Itachi had known he had found a meaning for his life. As soon as he had walked into his mother's room, following her release from the hospital, he had taken the small bundle that comprised his younger brother into his arms and had promised both the child and himself one thing. No matter the circumstance, and no matter the cost, he would protect him at all times, to the fullness of his competencies and to the end of his life.

With not only his oath, but also with his place as an older brother in mind, Itachi absolutely refused to allow Sasuke to feel even a small percentage of the burden that he, himself, had been forced to bear since he had been young, and had made it a point to discourage him from taking the same paths as he had, albeit indirectly.

He could not always keep him from it, of course (the little boy had an endearing obsession with wanting to grow up to be just like his older brother), and Itachi tried to be understanding and supportive as best he could, whether this included minor training, teaching simple jutsu, or simply discussing his days at the academy with the brightly focused child. But on the large front he tried to keep Sasuke fixated on being a child while he still could be, playing with him and encouraging his imagination rather than his ninja talents.

Oftentimes Sasuke was not content with his secretive efforts, but he adored his older brother and obeyed his wishes, giving Itachi at least some peace of mind in a life where little could be found without being forced to sneak away and hide in the forest.

As content as he was with the step he had taken today; achieving the highest rank that he could at his age and setting him ever closer to his goal. And as happy as he was with the fact that his afternoon was free, giving him an opportunity to spend time with Sasuke without getting dragged off for training or a clan meeting, Itachi was still the antisocial person that he always had been and every now and then, he needed his time alone. A time where he could give his overworked mind and body time to relax, (they both needed it. He didn't show the strain, but he had been nervous that morning and the tension had made him feel ill) where he could simply relax in the ease of repose and just bask in the calm of nature.

Determined to make the most of the planning and trouble he had gone to, to get to where he was, Itachi shook his head and finally succeeded in clearing away the turmoil of his constant and distressing thought process. He needed rest, and he would take it while he could. Satisfied with his purpose, he set his head back against the trunk behind himself and folded his arms, a small, often hidden smile lifting his lips as a light breeze and the warmth of the sun's rays washed across his face. Now he would find some measure of peace.

If only the fates had decided to let him.

* * *

><p>"Sakura dear, would you come here for a moment, please?" a tender, protective voice called out. The wide green eyes of the woman calling, swept worriedly over the assembled gathering in search of her suddenly missing daughter.<p>

Today was an important occasion for the probing woman's daughter. It was her seventh birthday, and though it was not the most meaningful or important of all the years the girl would celebrate, Sakura had been counting down to this day since she had joined the ninja academy for one reason.

She finally had friends she could invite to celebrate with.

As a mother, and a protective and apprehensive one at that, Harumi had always been watchful and defensive of Sakura. The girl had never been good at making friends, coming home from nursing school crying more than once from the cruel jibes she suffered from her classmates hands, and it had only been since starting at the academy this year that she struck up relationships that made it past one or two days.

Of course, she knew why Sakura had so much trouble fitting in, at least outside of the ninja academy; it was no easy matter being raised and brought up in a mixed home. Harumi, though she had married a shinobi, had been a blind and trusting civilian for most of her life before being courted by Sakura's father, and had found it extremely difficult to balance out the two worlds, even with the grace her age and the help her gently guiding husband had given her. It was no great wonder Sakura didn't know how to decide between the behaviours she had learned, often mixing civilian blindness with shinobi astuteness and setting herself at odds unintentionally.

Both Harumi and her husband had been unsure of how to school the girl, unwilling to let her be hurt but also knowing she would have trouble whether she went to the ninja academy or to civilian school, and had, in the end, left the choice up to Sakura.

Sakura, who loved and admired her mother for her strength despite having no ninja training, wanted to follow in her footsteps and learn to do just as well with so little. Settled on her decision, and convinced that it was the right one, she had spent many long months doing her best to school herself in the ways of civilian mannerisms, determined to come back the first day of school with reports of her success.

Her efforts had, however, been in vain, because as soon as Sakura had set foot inside the door following the first day of school, Harumi had seen the let down and discord in her daughter's countenance. She may not have been picked on that day, but she wasn't happy, and Harumi suspected that it had everything to do with the requisite school agenda. If Sakura wasn't content with the education she was going to be receiving, then she would simply have to put aside her own fears and let her little girl go where she would truly belong.

With this in mind, the two apprehensive parents had sent Sakura to the academy instead. It was possible that her difficulties were all springing from being repeatedly stuck on the wrong side of the spectrum, and all would be well if she received the training that would benefit her most.

Harumi had seen the proud, animated expression on her husband's face as they escorted Sakura through the gates of the Academy, even though he had tried to hide it. She may not be a shinobi, but she was not blind either, and she had known since the moment she had given birth to her angel that her child's father had wanted the girl to follow after his lead and become a ninja.

She was not resentful of this knowledge in the least. Just seeing her husband gleaming with such happiness made her glad in return, and she couldn't bring herself to feel slighted, even if she had wanted to be. There were only two people in her life that she cared for, her daughter and her husband, and seeing them both so contented gave her all the comfort she needed.

That didn't stop her from worrying about Sakura day in and day out though. The life that she lived was a dangerous one and the chances of her getting hurt were so high that it was more likely for her to return home each day with scrapes and bruises than it was for her to come back without. She would have been able to handle that, however, due to her husband's comforts and reassurances, but for the fact that Sakura often used her newly acquired skills to "disappear" at the most unlikely and unhelpful of times.

"Sakura, where _are_ you?" Harumi called out again, now growing slightly panicked at the continued absence of the young girl. What if she had wandered away too far again and couldn't find her way back? What if she had been practicing a jutsu too high leveled for her age and had somehow hurt herself?

Growing more fretful and distraught by the second, she turned in place and looked intensely at the tree-lined edge of the sun-swept fairgrounds she stood in; her mouth opening to call out again before she was suddenly seized by the knees from behind. A pair of small hands and arms wrapped around her legs,

"Here I am! Gotcha, didn't I?" the tiny pink haired menace giggled while leaning around the woman's legs; beaming up at her mother with obvious pleasure over her successful prank.

Harumi's heart swelled with the comfort of having her daughter near once more, her worry fading and being replaced with doting ease at the contentment she saw in Sakura's eyes.

"Where were you? I was beginning to get worried. Your friends will be here soon and if you aren't here when they arrive they will be unhappy," the affectionate woman informed her daughter and reached a hand out to smooth a lock of her hair behind her ear carefully and mindfully.

"I'm sorry, mommy. I was just… I just… Um…" Sakura started fidgeting, twisting the edge of her skirt in her hands while mumbling her way through her explanation. Harumi's eyebrows furrowed in re-awakening worry. Concern over something being wrong or Sakura having gotten into some sort of trouble gnawed at the edge of her mind.

"What's wrong, sweetie? You can tell me," Harumi said gently while crouching down to be at the same level as the girl and looked directly into the pink haired angel's eyes.

"This… this is for you mommy," Sakura said quickly before shoving her hand out, palm upwards to display the flower blossom she has picked for her mother from a tree across the field from her. She didn't know what it was, but she wanted to give her mother something that would show how much she loved her, something that would show how much everything her mother was doing for her meant.

It had been by complete chance that she had found the tree in the first place. Sakura had been walking around the concrete slab her birthday party would be held on, weaving in between the latticed tables while placing plates, cups and spoons at each seat dutifully (her mother had told her how important a good place setting was, and Sakura wanted nothing more than to impress both her beloved mother and her new friends), until something had caught her eye and drawn her attention away from her responsibility.

There in the distance, swaying in the light breeze and practically glowing in the midmorning sunlight, was a magnificent tree. Normally, trees held no special interest to the girl, but this was no ordinary tree. This tree had blankets of soft, pastel pink pieces covering all of its boughs. The light breeze made some of the pink petals float slowly to the ground while others blew off from the soft caress of the wind; swirling away to destinations unknown.

This was more than enough to gain Sakura's undivided attention (she loved the color and couldn't resist learning more about new, intriguing things), and she had placed the remaining cups and plates down without a second thought and had ran off towards the tree, gleefully excited to have found something so pretty. Once she had reached the tree's side, however, she had realized that the color had not been one solid mass as she had assumed, but a multitude of singular, beautiful little flowers, each smelling more fragrant than the last.

Sakura had quickly come to the conclusion that she had never seen such a pretty flower in her whole life and wanted to know what it was. Surely her mother would know. With this in mind, she had jumped up and caught one of the falling blossoms so that she could show her mother, and at the same time give her a wonderful gift, and find out why the little flower was the same exact color as her prized hair.

Letting out a tender laugh, Harumi enclosed her daughter in an encompassing and loving hug, telling her the flower was beautiful and that she would treasure it forever before reaching up and tucking the blossom behind her ear. Sakura smiled happily at the given present, glad that her mother had appreciated it. But she was still discontented that she did not know _what_ it was. She had never seen such a flower before and now she was curious.

"Mommy, why is this flower really, _really_ pink? It looks just like my hair," Sakura asked with a puzzled look on her face.

Her nose scrunched up cutely as she reached out to touch one of the velvet soft petals behind her mother's ear. Harumi's amusement was difficult to contain, following her daughter's innocent question and obvious displeasure; the look on Sakura's face was just _too_ adorable.

"Because it is a Sakura."

Shock was the only thing that registered in the little girl's mind for a moment. She was so stunned by the outrageous claim, but quickly overcame her stunned silence and narrowed her eyes into a cute impression of attempted anger, her tiny hands fisting and tears of frustration building in the corners of her eyes.

"No it's _not_, mommy!" she screamed, shaking her head wildly and silently threatening to break into tears. "_I'm_ Sakura and I'm _not_ a flower!"

Clearly upset by the announcement that this, this stupid _flower _was the same as her, Sakura started to try to tug her way out of her mother's embrace so she could run away to find solace by herself, but Harumi didn't allow it and disregarded her child's attempts and merely hugged her tighter while chuckling lightly.

"I know that, sweetie. You're my one and only Sakura. But this flower's name is Sakura too. Look at it," she explained softly before leaning away and reaching up to retrieve the flower, picking it from her hair and holding it out for the little girl's inspection. Sakura's interested eyes never left the flower as her mother twisted it back and forth, this way and that way, and once Harumi was certain her daughter understood, she replaced it behind her ear, giving her daughter a caring smile.

"Your father and I decided to name you after this breed of flower because it's so beautiful. And we just _knew_ that you would be beautiful, just like your namesake," Harumi clarified with an expectant query hidden in her tone, hoping that the reasoning would cheer the girl up, or at least calm her down.

Sakura hadn't taken her eyes off of the flower since her mother had started speaking. So this was the reason she had been named what she was? This pretty, pretty flower was her name, and since it was _her _name…

"_Ohhh_..." Sakura mouthed, eyes shining eagerly as she bounced on the spot, her hands clapping together excitedly. "That means that all sakuras are mine, right?" Sakura's whole face glowed with sheer and utter joy just at the thought that such beautiful flowers could all be _hers_, ideas and fantasies flashing transparently across her wide, clear eyes.

Harumi, however, couldn't wrap her head around which part of her statement it was that had given Sakura such a crazy idea. She was a smart girl; surely she would know that there was no way that all of these flowers were hers. But what harm could come from letting her think such a thing, if only for today? It was her birthday, after all, and if thinking that all of the sakuras in the world were hers for the remainder of the day would make the girl happy, then so be it.

The last thing that Harumi wanted was to upset her daughter on her special day.

Embracing Sakura again, Harumi softly replied that for today, but _only_ for today, she owned all the sakura flowers. Sakura's instant reply was a squeal of joy as her happiness rose to the level of sheer exultation, before the excitable little girl pulled away from her mother, whirled in a tight circle with her arms held out to each side, and ran off to hunt for more of _her_ flowers, birthday party, mother, and friends forgotten in her excitement.

Taken aback by Sakura's sudden flight of fancy, Harumi stood and took a step after her joyfully skipping daughter, raising a hand in worried opposition. "Sakura!" she shouted after her, eyebrows low over her concerned eyes.

Drawn from her fanciful wanderings, Sakura spun as she continued her prancing, smiling widely at the worried woman from across the short expanse of grass between the two. "Yes, mommy?" she called back, hands folding behind her back and grin turning up a notch, and Harumi's hand lowered a few inches. There was time before the party started, she supposed, and she didn't necessarily need Sakura's help with the rest of the setup.

There wasn't much work left to do since the food had been prepared the day before and almost all of the place settings had been readied. It was nothing that she couldn't do herself with little trouble, and there was still the better part of an hour before the party started and the guests would be arriving. Sakura had time to go and play for a little while.

"Be careful, don't go too far and _don't be late_," she reminded the girl as she lowered her hands the rest of the way, giving her daughter a kind and gentle smile. With this encouragement, Sakura waved in acknowledgement before spinning around again and raced off, determined to find more of the flowers that had been declared hers.

* * *

><p>Twigs snapped and branches bent out of her way as Sakura pushed through the undergrowth of the forest she was currently exploring, dutifully continuing her search for her namesake. She had combed every inch of the field her birthday party would be held in, but had found no other sakura trees besides the one she had discovered earlier.<p>

Not to be dissuaded by the disappointing results of her search, she had with a sneaky glance thrown at her mother's back, ducked into the treeline and ran off onto the building-high tree trunks, silently promising not to upset her mother by being late but also swearing to find more of her belongings.

Even being the bare age of seven, and only having been in the ninja academy for one year, Sakura's skills were no small thing. Most children her age would have quickly become lost among the seemingly treacherous and navigation less trees and shrubs, wandering without cause or purpose, but not she.

Her training had held great impact on her, having no small part in her natural aptitude to learning, (while she was not number one in her class, she had gotten almost perfect marks on her latest report and was lauded as a highly intelligent child, for being half civilian) and had no difficulty in navigating the narrow passes and intricate weavings and wanderings of the paths she took. She could even remember the exact way that she had come, without having left any markings to follow her path by.

As happy as she was with her strengths, she was determined to become even stronger, proving to the world, and most of all to her father, that she was worth their while. (Father's name) Haruno was her hero, the ninja that she hoped someday to come even to, or even surpass, and it was her greatest goal to become everything he ever had been.

As such, her efforts to find more sakura trees could be defined as more than a simple, childish quest of fancy. It was a matter of pride. No ninja ever did a halfway job, and she was dissatisfied by feebleness of her yield thus far. If she were to truly succeed, and impress the importance of her namesake on the world, she _had_ to be more thorough.

Finding them wasn't enough, of course; the trees she discovered would need to have a lasting reminder of her dominance, of her ownership, and she had used a newly discovered skill of hers to make the necessary markings.

Pushing a small amount of her chakra into the very tip of her pointer finger (she had discovered this ability quite by accident. While bored in class one day she had been poking a young boy by the name of Kiba Inuzuka in the back of the head, trying to get _someone_ to talk to her, and had been intensely surprised when, following a particularly hard poke, after her annoyance with being ignored had flared to a new height, the boy had flown forward over his desk to skid across the floor and lay in a crumpled heap at the foot of her teacher's desk), she had traced a curvaceous and intricate _S_ into the wood of the tree she had found and intended to do the same with the others she would soon find, if luck and providence provided.

She had originally wanted to scratch her whole name into the trunk, as a simple S could belong to anyone, but had declined herself the option. While her skill at wielding her secret talent was not lacking, she was also young and had no chakra reserves of great mass. She knew her limitations well. It was one of the first lessons she had learned at the academy; "Never underestimate an opponent, children, but most importantly, you must know to never _over_estimate your own abilities. Learn to recognize when it is best to stand and fight, and when it is wisest to flee and live." And thus, she restrained herself to the simple letter so she could have more chakra left over later.

The path that she took through the steadily deepening and aging forest, angling steadily more southwards by the direction the sun was rising above her, was obviously an old game trail, a path forged by deer and boars and other wild animals. She did not fear meeting any of the beasts in the wood despite the significance of the footsteps she trailed in and the shadows she ducked through. Besides birds, small mammals like squirrels and raccoons, and more than a million buzzing, highly annoying bugs, there was no significant life to be found.

Little to her knowledge was the fact that the owners of the land she was now unwittingly trespassing on had taken great pains to keep their woodlands free of dangerous creatures that could bring harm to both property and children alike. While it was not known to her, the clan who owned and kept the land was very protective of their offspring, and were heavily determined to keep them from potential harm, despite the fact that most of their young were shinobi of varying rank.

The Uchiha's were nothing, if not walking contradictions.

As time wore on, Sakura began to doubt that she would ever find any more trees, despite the promising climate and surroundings she found herself in, (the other tree had been unhealthy she'd noticed once she had inspected it much more closely, and the little pink haired girl deduced that it needed more water and more fertile earth to gain it's true health. The grounds she were in at the moment were much more fitting for the growth of such a strong, and yet such a fragile tree) and had truly begun to despair of it when she was suddenly assaulted by a familiar scent, one that she had already acclimated herself with and had memorized in the span of only a few short minutes,

Cherry blossoms.

Hurrying recklessly in the direction the smell was coming from, wafting between the trees and branches around her enticingly, Sakura, in short order, stumbled suddenly into a clearing, or more like an _orchard_, filled to the brim with rows upon rows of the trees that had been gifted to her for the day. Boughs laden with pastel pink blossoms lifted to the sky and stretched out to touch other branches just as burdened, each tree's trunk knotted and bowed but still as beautiful as the moment she had first seen it.

In the distance, far beyond the edge of where the sakura trees ended and the forest once again began, there could be heard the faint noises of a great celebration in progress, the voices of men, women, and excited children all melding together into a tumultuous noise that seemed far too loud despite the distance that was obvious held between the small, impressionable girl's current position and the party in progress, and for a moment, Sakura was seized by a modicum of panic. Had the birthday party started already?

Was she late?

A quick glance at the shadow of one of the taller pines rising from the woods behind her discouraged the thought since no more than a possible ten minutes had passed since her departure from the field her party was being held in. Besides, the noise were coming from the wrong direction; further southwest and on higher ground than her own gathering was on, so she needed not worry about it. Perhaps it was someone else's birthday today as well.

Shrugging off the consideration, the little girl happily bounced over to the side of the first in a long row of cherry trees, pushing her chakra into her finger (it glowed with a friendly, greenish hue that she was fond and proud of) and beginning work on the letter that would represent her ownership.

She had no reason to fear the people gathered in the invisible distance, as they were obviously preoccupied with their own merrymaking. Although, she was cautious of strangers, as she had been warned by both her mother and father about the dangers of speaking with people she didn't know if she was by herself. She had little reason to think that anyone would bother her. If she did see someone, she was more than able to avoid and escape them, she was sure of that.

* * *

><p>A cool, gently breeze blew through the sakura trees, rustling a lock of obsidian hair and causing it to float down to hang in front of a relaxed and calm visage. A steady, strong hand lifted to tuck it back in place before returning to fold together with its mate in the reposing young man's lap, and stillness once again overcame the reclining male.<p>

With legs stretched luxuriously out before him, back still flat against the trunk of the tree and lips pulled into an expressionless display of ease, Itachi sighed in response to the snapping of a twig and once again cracked an eye open to pass over his surroundings. The rustle of light footsteps darting even closer to his position made his ears prick up.

He had been content, happy even, with his solitude and putting off the decision of whether or not it would be wise to go back to his celebration soon, but had been drawn back from the point of near slumber by something entering the orchard from the forest behind his position. He had initially though it to be some sort of large, harmless animal, the life force no larger than a small child his brother's age and the chakra signature diminutive, and hadn't been bothered by it.

_Hadn't_, being the operative word; he had quickly been drawn to reluctant interest by the scraping noises that started coming from wherever the presence darted, coupled with small bursts of controlled chakra and childish giggling. He wasn't particularly bothered by the danger of an obvious, but young shinobi. One of the children from his family's gathering must have followed him and was trying to entertain themselves, he figured. Determining that the easiest way to control the situation was to stay out of it, he let it be for the moment, but he soon found himself actually troubled by the incessant laughter.

It could not be _normal_ for this child to be so entertained by their pastime. What were they doing?

He had almost been roused to the point of going to see, without revealing himself, of course; it would be no great difficulty to watch the child unseen since they obviously had no idea that he was there in the first place. He did not allow it, however. He couldn't forget why he was there in the first place; he was trying to rest. He was capable of ignoring the interloper, and would escape before they came close enough to discover him. There was no need to get involved, even if it were just to satisfy his own curiosity.

This plan had seemed a sturdy one, and he had held to it while the presence had gone up and down the lines of trees behind his person, carefully but quickly, almost periodical in their movements and with each stop they made they used up a fraction of their chakra to do something to the tree and then left it behind in favor of a new one. He could not fathom what they could be doing, though he was sure it was something simple and childlike in nature, and he had done his best to ignore them. He had also lost that battle when the small annoyance had moved on to the line of trees he reposed in, gradually moving closer to his tree; the last in the line and the last in the orchard that they could spend their energy on.

This was when he should have moved. He should have been gone the second the mysterious person had gotten to his row; picked himself up and disappeared as he had promised himself. However, he found himself almost rooted to the spot, unable to move from his seat while the child drew ever nearer.

He knew that he should have made the move to leave, but some part of him wanted to know what this person had been doing and if they could continue with their almost empty chakra store. If they began to work on the tree he leaned on, keeping to the back as they had done with all the other trees, he could find out without being discovered.

Or perhaps he wished to be exposed, to let the child know that they'd had an audience all along in the easiest manner possible.

He did not know, but he also did not move from his relaxed pose as the presence finally reached his tree. He settled in to wait for what would come.

Sakura, who was kneeling on the other side of the tree from the expectantly waiting ANBU, was having unexpected difficulty with the last tree in the orchard. She'd had no trouble so far with the other trees. All forty-seven of them were now bearing her mark. But this one… she had tried to carve the first letter of her name into the bark three times already, but the tip of her finger only dragged roughly over the bark, making tiny, painfully scratches in her skin but leaving no mark on the wood. She firmly refused to believe that she could have run out of chakra when she was so close to being finished, and that the absence of the green glow was simply a trick of the sunlight.

Stubbornly convincing herself that the bark on that side of the trunk was simply too hard to be marked, Sakura walked contemplatively around the tree to the other side, looking intently at the wood grain as she went, and was nearly on top of him before she realized that, lying at the foot of the tree and looking up at her with an agitated pucker between his eyebrows, was a silent, long haired, and very annoyed looking _boy_.

Sakura screamed.

Nearly wincing at the abrupt and unwanted screech but managing to withhold the action, Itachi wrinkled his nose minutely and snorted silently. The revelation that the interloper was not a participant of the gathering brought together in his honor, or even a member of his family, had concerned him for a very short second before he had decided that that didn't matter.

He wasn't the clan head yet; he didn't have to enforce the boundaries of the property he lived on, and he didn't care enough about them to want to try. This child had obviously wandered into the grounds by accident. Surely she wasn't a spy if she was being so obvious about her presence and was so easily distracted by her erstwhile pastime.

Resolute in his uncaring regarding the girl's place on his lands, Itachi had set about judging; in the few moments between when she had rounded the trunk of the tree and when she had become aware of his presence, whether or not she had been worth his interest in the first place. His immediate thought had been a resounding _no_, in judgmental response to the child's ridiculous tresses.

What kind of shinobi had pink hair?

Surely not one that ever intended to be any good nor taken seriously. The amount of control she had over her chakra was impressive, that much was true, but raw talent could be overlooked by flashiness and pride over appearance. If her hair was natural, and that was a rather big if, then someday she would have to either dye it to rid herself of the prejudice of other's thoughts or she would have to give up and regress to the life of a civilian or a housewife.

Or maybe, maybe, it would make her stronger.

He barely kept from continuing his thought process, drawing away from the subject only by reminding himself that it was none of his concern and that he had no real reason to care about the girl's potential failure or success. She would either flourish or regress without his interest, and he had other things to worry about that held precedence over his present consideration,

Like getting out of this situation.

He could, of course, just get up and leave. The child would have no chance of being able to catch up to him if she tried to follow, not with the speed he had possession of. Running felt wrong, however. It was not like anyone was there to know, or that he would be reprimanded for turning tail and fleeing, but the action simply felt cowardly. No Uchiha would ever run from a fight, whether or not it was a battle in the first place.

Since he could not run, Itachi turned his mind to the next best thing, besides being blatantly cruel and driving her away.

He could act as though he did not care about her presence and ignore her. It would be no hardship to appropriate. It was the way that he handled most of the people in town, and it had never failed him before. But there was a good chance that the girl would persist in bothering him, since the lack of company left only himself and her in the orchard.

He didn't get a chance to pursue his thoughts further than this, because as he considered the possibility of the young pink haired nin being annoyingly tenacious, she proved herself to be more than adequately fitted to the assumption by stopping the shocked retreat she had initially taken, raising a hand to her heart as if to still its frenzied beating, and then screeching at him in a high, resonating, and greatly affronted tenor, "You _scared_ me!"

His first reaction was to raise a sceptical eyebrow.

She acted as though he had jumped out and purposefully spooked her. He hadn't even moved from his spot besides turning to look up at her fleetingly, and still she accused him of frightening her. She was obviously an inconsolable, fanciful child, believing in what she wished and letting no other tell her otherwise. Obstinate, foolhardy, and not worth his time…

Snorting scornfully so that she would be sure to hear his conceit, Itachi turned away from the heavily breathing nuisance by his side and shut his eyes, refolding his arms and settling back against the tree behind him. "And you disturbed me. I believe that this evens our score," he replied shortly, clipping his words so that his discomfiture with the situation was evident, but at the same time, letting his good breeding show through by not blatantly being rude.

Unfortunately for his gentlemanly efforts and his waning patience, the infuriating girl child was not dissuaded by his uncaring response or by his obvious dismissal. And so, she placed two small hands on her childishly chubby hips while glaring down on his reposing form with infantile malice. "You wouldn't have to have been disturbed if you weren't trespassing on other's property, would you? You should have some respect!"

The derision radiating from the girl's voice was all encompassing and practically poisonous, and her ire was so heated that Itachi cracked his eye open to look up at her once more, taken by surprise by the direction and fury of her reply. He could understand being impassioned on a subject, but her defensive speech made no sense to him. Everything that he was touching and was surrounded by, the girl aside, was his.

Where did her delusion spring from?

"And you should learn to heed your own advice before dispensing it to others. Wisdom is found in softly, but _aptly_ spoken words. Your argument means nothing to me. Leave me in peace," he muttered dismissively in the end, coming to no sane conclusion as to what she could be referring to, and was once again taken aback by the escalation of the girl beside him's anger. His soft request practically made her swell in her rage, fists clenching at her sides and cheeks flushing splotchily while her evergreen gaze hardened flintily.

"_You_," she accused loudly, pointing a finger down at Itachi's prone form, "are a meanie! Don't you dare ignore me, trespasser, not when you're laying under _my_ tree!" Her hand moved then from pointing dangerously at his chest to wave over her head exaggeratedly, indicating the tree branches and floating blossoms above her. "See these? Sakura's. I am Sakura, and so are they. They are all mine," she exclaimed proudly, and yet another eyebrow quirk was resisted by the normally stoic young man at her feet.

What in the world had given her the inclination to think that cherry blossoms were hers?

Her indignation was obvious, now that he knew why she was so upset over his presence, but she was not so young that she could possibly be deluded into thinking that all the sakura flowers in the world were hers. Besides, she was a nin. She couldn't be stupid, or at least not very. Still, though, he could not think of a reason for her to believe such a fool notion.

It went with his nature to simply let the subject be. Let her dream; the harshness of the world they lived in would rip hopes and fantasies from her mind before long, and he wanted no part in the spoiling of her livelihood. But his curiosity on the subject of her whim was discontented with letting the happenstance go like he would have to; he wanted to _know_. He always wanted more knowledge, and this conundrum would weigh on his mind if he did not bother to find out. As such, he opened both of his eyes, turned his upper body to face the girl, apparently named Sakura, so he could question her until he was satisfied.

"Yours?" he asked slowly, letting his curiosity leak into his voice despite himself, and Sakura's chest inflated pridefully, her anger forgotten for the moment.

"Uh huh," she bragged. "That's right. It's my birthday and my momma told me that I can own all the sakura's today. Since you are sleeping under this tree, you are trespassing. Get it?"

Ah, so that was her problem; nothing but a pathetic assumption of a two year olds mind.

Not saying another word, Itachi was simply under the impression that she had made her point and that she would disappear and not annoy him any further, but he could clearly see that it wasn't going to happen any time soon.

Sakura did feel bad for waking him up though. He didn't seem like bad person, and he couldn't have known that she owned this tree. "Well, okay. I'll let you off this one time." She tried to lighten the situation by giving him a small but visible smile.

"Hn." This was boarding on ridiculous in his eyes. An insane little girl lecturing him was most likely the craziest thing that had ever happened in his life so far. And she just simply would not go away. Telling him that _she _had forgiven _him_? Was she serious?

"What were you doing? Don't you have a home? Is that why you were sleeping here?" He heard her ask in a sympathetic tone, as if pitying his situation.

Could this brat make a fool out of herself any further? Itachi wondered. She couldn't possibly be a shinobi. After all, every shinobi knew that no one besides an Uchiha was allowed to enter this land, and they furthermore passed that discipline onto their children. Then again, he never saw a civilian take the chance either. "This is my home." He replied in a firm tone, eyeing the girl.

"Oh, so you must live around here then, huh? I've never been down here before but I really like it! It's really pretty too." She expressed, with nothing but friendly intention. "But why were you under my tree?" She couldn't help but wonder.

Itachi was simply astounded by this girl's intelligence. Didn't she get the idea that she was under _his_ tree? Not that he would go into a dialogue about that, but he didn't see any harm in answering her question.

"I was calming my mind." Itachi answered slightly bluntly as if it wasn't obvious before. Sakura huffed and pouted her lips, rather angry that he was treating her like she was a child, by answering her in such short sentences. But today was her seventh birthday and she wasn't going to let anyone annoy her.

"Why were you calming your mind? Are you sick?" She asked with slight worry. He may be a meanie, but he didn't deserve to be sick, she summed up in her mind.

"No, I am not. I just passed my Anbu entrance test and was taking a break. Until you intervened, that is" Not that he had to explain that to her, but maybe she would go away now? He would rather listen to his clans bickering than be bombarded by questions by a two year old that clearly did not make any sense.

Sakura's eyes widened with curiosity, and she was surprised that he answered her with more than a few words this time. Maybe they could be friends? She hoped so and therefore it wouldn't hurt if she told him about herself now.

"I finished my first year at the academy last week! I passed everything. I'm gonna be big and strong too and get into Anbu just like my daddy and you too. And today's my birthday! I'm seven, and my mommie's giving me my first party. She says I'm a big girl now." She bounced up and down, clapping her hands with enjoyment. But Itachi didn't understand how his last sentence managed to struck up a conversation about her life story. She really was trying his patience.

"Yes, that's all very nice. Would you leave now." Not stating it as a question, but rather as a statement. He thought she had shame and pride and couldn't bare the idea of not being wanted, but yet again, this girl was most definitely proving him wrong.

"Don't be mean, you jerk. This isn't your space. It's mine. So don't tell me to leave." She whined.

He tried to be nice, but his patience wasn't allowing him to keep his calm anymore. "Listen. You're on _my_ land, the land of the Uchiha's. Now, as clan heir Itachi Uchiha, I want you to leave. You are trying on my last patience." He straightforwardly commented, unconsciously trying to not sound too disrespectful. After all, his mother had taught him manners and to never speak to the opposite gender in a rude manner. He handled it pretty well so far, he believed.

No one had ever said such upsetting words to her. She felt her entire world crush down on her. This was the first time anyone had ever insulted her in such a cruel way with words. He made her feel so low and worthless. Today was her birthday and no one had the right to be so harsh towards her -especially not when she was only being nice and friendly.

But she most certainly wasn't going to take any of it. Back when she was studying at the civilian school, people would make fun of her forehead and she would take it all. It wouldn't upset her, but it didn't make her feel good about herself either. This time, she wouldn't take such hostile comments when she hadn't done anything wrong. But even so, she couldn't stop her eyes from watering as she spoke her next words.

"No! I will not go! You can't be mean to me on my birthday!" She cried, unable to hold back her tears any longer. Bringing her hands to her eyes she tried whipping the tears away. "I don't care about who you are, you stupid Uchiha. You go away."

Itachi's mouth hung open. No one had ever dared to mention his name let alone insult it which such foul language before. And on top of that to cry after _he_ just received the insult? What a cry baby, he concluded.

This girl had just pushed her luck. He would settle the matter one way or another, but not by giving into her.

"You want me to go away." Itachi composedly stated.

Sakura nodded; still crying into her hands. Unable to look him in the eye, she sniffled her tears away, hoping he would just leave her alone.

"Fine, but know this. To resort to such means of expressing your feelings and to winning disagreements through tears, is not the way of the shinobi. And you will _never_ succeed as a ninja." Happy that he had made his point, Itachi was going to leave the girl to her useless self as she carried on weeping. But he was not finished there.

Just as he was about to make his leave, he released a full chakra punch towards the trunk of the tree, completely demolishing it, which led to the upper half not being able to balance itself and therefore collapsing next to it. He was not done yet. Releasing his Katon jutsu at its highest fury, he made sure that this tree would never give life to another Sakura again.

* * *

><p>Sakura Haruno walked out through the gates of the hokage tower with her head held high. Having set a lifelong goal she felt happiness beyond expression, and could not wait to tell the people she loved most that she, only minutes ago, had finally achieved her dream.<p>

She really could not imagine the look on their faces, especially Sasuke's and Naruto's when she'd tell them of the news. It certainly wasn't every day that she accomplished something before they did. The last time she felt like this was during her first training with Kakashi, when she managed to climb the tree before they did. She really did love the boys to bits, but they did have a tendency to somehow leave her behind. Granted it may not be intentional, but it made her feel somewhat helpless.

But now at the age of twenty, Sakura Haruno was a new addition to Anbu Black Ops, and no one, not Kakashi, Sasuke or Naruto, had the right to over step her line of authority. Just the mere thought of putting them into place gave her the privilege of plastering a grin on her face.

Scraping her feet through the soft ground, flicking pieces of rocks in the process, Sakura was wondering what she could possibly do now. Ever since she could remember she had been training for today, day and night, and now it felt extremely pointless to go that far anymore. It certainly didn't mean she was just going to abandon her training, most certainly not. But she didn't see the logic in pushing herself _that _hard anymore either.

Finally, she decided she ought to go and tell her parents before telling anyone else. After all, if it wasn't for them, Sakura could never have gathered the courage to actually sign up for the exam, let alone pass it. Her father would always encourage her to never stop trying to get where she wanted to, and whether she got there in the end or not, her parents would always be by her side regardless of the outcome, especially her father. Just thinking about the memory always managed to make her smile.

She was about to make a run home until a familiar voice prevented her from making the step. Whipping her head around to the location of the voice, Sakura caught sight of none other than the gossip girl herself running towards her.

"Hey forehead, didn't you hear me? I've been calling you for the past minute." Ino came to a pause behind her, panting whilst catching her breath.

"Sorry about that. I didn't quite hear you. What's up? You okay?" Sakura asked. She hadn't even realized she had completely blanked out of it.

Ino straightened up, having caught her breath back and suspiciously eyed Sakura with a glare that clearly read _you're bullshitting._"You're telling me you couldn't hear _me_? Honestly, Sakura, the other side of Konoha can practically hear when I shout for someone". Ino stated with slight pride behind her words. Being loud and gaining attention was clearly something that was more than fine with her, but Sakura didn't like to draw attention to herself.

Not giving Sakura a chance to resort to her self-derogatory comment, Ino decided to cut straight to the point. She could see Sakura was hiding something, but she just didn't know what it was. Glancing at Sakura's fingers, she could see they were fidgeting with one another, and she was biting her lower lip as if she was trying to hide something. Ino would have none of that though. They were best friends, and best friends never kept secrets from one another. Well, at least that was Ino's definition of secret. However, with Ino it always seemed that regardless who the friend was, she _could_never keep the secret, and deep down; Sakura was finding it slightly difficult to keep anything from her best friend, especially something as honorable as this.

"Scoff it up, Sakura, what's happened?"

Sakura was well aware that when Ino used her proper name -she was pretty serious and would not let go of the topic until she'd found out. But that didn't mean Sakura would always give up so easily. After all, Sakura was the one who wanted to tell everyone rather than let Ino do the job. It wasn't too much to ask for, since it was actually _her_ whom had become Anbu.

"I just completed an A rank mission all on my own, and I can't wait till I tell my father." Sakura tried to lie her way through with a challenging smile to back up her alibi, but regardless, Sakura doubted Ino would actually buy it. And from the current look on her face; it most certainly looked like she didn't buy it.

"But if I tell you, half of Konoha will know! And I, for once, want to be the one that actually tell people." Sakura mumbled, hoping that Ino would just drop it.

"Okay, okay. I _promise_I won't tell a soul. You have my word. Now just tell me already, I've just gotten back from the mission with the rookie 9, which you missed and I still need a good reason for why." Ino snapped, quickly going into rush mode. "You hardly tell me anything anymore, you know. I mean you and me were like this," she carried on, exaggerating, and now; emphasizing it by crossing her index fingers together. "You've changed so much. It's like you don't ev-" Ino was abruptly cut short of her ranting and was staring at a given up Sakura.

"Okay! Just shut up already," Sakura cut in, enraged at her friend's tantrum. "But if I hear that you've told _anyone_then I –" This time it was Ino that prevented Sakura from continuing by waving her hand in dismissal, as if she was used to hearing the same line again and again, finished the threat for her. "I know, I know. Now get to it already."

Sighing at her friends abstracted attitude, the pinkette decided that perhaps she really would keep her mouth shut this time.

After clearing her mind from the idea of leaking, she couldn't help the smile that was creeping its way onto her surface. "Well yes, I do have a good excuse for not coming on the group mission. I had to enter an exam."

"An exam?" Ino asked curiously. Then she remembered something. Perhaps she had taken the Level 3 medication exam early which they were set to take together at the end of the term. Such an exam meant that they could specialize in a chosen field afterwards. "You took the med exam early, didn't you?" Ino exclaimed, clearly hurt by just the thought of her friend hiding something like that from her.

Though Ino's assumption was false, Sakura knew the only problem with such a thing would be that it would mean Sakura would be one step ahead of her friend, and that was a big no-no in Ino's book.

"Where'd you get that idea from?" Sakura asked considerably amused, but left no room for a reply, since this could mean her friend would possibly come up with some more delirious assumptions. "I took the Anbu exam for this year's candidates."

"You did what?" Narrowing her eyes, Ino was still trying to digest what she had just heard. Sakura just couldn't resist the temptation of teasing the blonde.

"I said I took th-"Sakura found herself interrupted again.

"Yea, I heard you forehead," Ino barked with a frown present on her face, clearly not amused by the teasing. "But why would you do such a thing? You know it's impossible to pass those exams. Even Asuma-sensei failed to pass that exam and he's _the thirds son_, now that is saying something."

Sakura could only stand still and simply take in what little faith her best friend had in her.

"No wonder you were dazed out. Come here you," Ino jumped over to Sakura, embracing her in a tight but friendly hug, obviously under the impression that she had failed.

Even though her friend clearly had no faith in her abilities, Sakura could not be mad at her with how her friend was trying to, but was in no need of, smothering her down, and in her own way trying to make her feel better. Sakura didn't want to interrupt their little moment either, so she didn't say a word.

They stayed in that position for about thirty seconds as Sakura waited for the nail to hit her friend on the head, which should be sometime soon.

"No way," Sakura heard Ino's muffled voice from behind her head where they were still locked together. "There's just no way." The blue eyed kunoichi rapidly unlocked herself from her friend and looked straight into her eyes; trying to read Sakura's expression.

Sakura decided it was a perfect time to break her phase and allowed herself the privilege of a smirk, which gave her game away, and within moments, she found herself on the floor with a strikingly happy Ino; hugging her to near death.

"You did it. You're Anbu now!" Ino exclaimed before clasping her hand around her mouth, simply blown away by the news.

"Yup, and that's why I missed the mission. Sorry about that, I guess," Sakura stated, trying to loosen up the moment with a little sarcasm.

"Forget about the stupid mission." Ino, who still hadn't had time to come out of her shock, was eyeing Sakura from head to toe, trying to figure out how she actually done it. Was this the same Sakura who she helped out from being bullied back when they were children? "I still can't believe it, Sakura. I mean, only the best of the best get into Anbu and now…" Ino trailed off while looking down at the ground with a sudden mood fall.

Sakura hoped it wasn't jealousy. She loved Ino, but her jealousy could get a little too much most of the time. "And now you're going to be sent on S-rank missions, aren't you?" Ino glanced back up, meeting Sakuras eyes and saw them slowly start to blur.

Sakura didn't know what to say. Here she was, thinking that her friend was jealous, and then she found out she was only thinking of her well-being.

"Ino…" Sakura tried to come up with some comforting words but failed miserably.

Ino shook her head from side to side, preventing Sakura from talking further. "I'm not going to tell you to not go on them because, hell, when was the last time you listened to me anyway? Just promise me that you'll be careful."

Words were not needed at the moment and Sakura's friendly smile was all the confirmation Ino needed.

Having lightened up the mood, Ino just couldn't get rid of the grin that she had plastered on her face for the past five minutes as they had been walking down the path to Sakura's home.

"Your dad's going to be so proud of you," Ino stated. "Even though he's never pushed you, I can always tell he wants you to be the best."

"I know, and if it wasn't for him and my mother, I probably wouldn't even have lasted a minute. I can't wait to tell them. It's going to be the first time I actually tell them about anything I've achieved, huh?" Sakura elbowed her friend jokily, whilst Ino looked the other way, crossing her arms around her chest.

Ino being the loud mouth that she was, would hardly give Sakura the chance to surprise her parents with anything she did. And on the rare occasion that Ino hadn't blabbered anything to them directly, she had always indirectly told; sometimes through her neighbors or by chatting about it in public places. She hadn't even gotten the chance to tell them the times she had upgraded in the shinobi ranks. But judging by the way Ino was with her now; she was finally going to have the chance to do so.

* * *

><p>Having parted from Sakura, Ino remembered that she was supposed to meet the others at the hokage's tower to report their mission, thus making a chakra full run for it, thinking that perhaps she could still make it. Besides she didn't want to worry them. She had considered going home instead, but thought against it as they easily could have made the conclusion she might have been abducted by an enemy ninja.<p>

Ino had excused herself to speed up a little as she was carrying a partly injured enemy ninja, and she didn't have enough chakra to prevent his death, if such a thing happened. So she had rushed ahead, promising that she would meet them at the tower by the time they came back. She had taken the patient to the hospital and called in a couple Anbu's to bodyguard the ninja and then of course, she had bumped into Sakura.

Slowing down slightly just seconds away from her destination, Ino caught sight of the team making their way out through the gate of the tower. Skidding to a halt she was just about to go into her rant as to why she was late, but Shikamaru beat her to it, not wanting to hear her excuse. He'd had a troublesome journey anyway.

"We've already reported the mission." He stated while waving his hand in dismissal, in hope that Ino would get the hint and not open her big mouth.

"Where's the ninja?" Sasuke asked while taking a look at Ino.

"I took him to the hospital. He's being guarded by Anbu, so he can't escape."

"What took you so long to get back? Did he cause you trouble?" Hinata questioned, worrying that perhaps Ino had hurt herself.

Ino felt somewhat touched that someone cared about her well-being and that someone didn't find her as irritating as the rest of the team did. "No, he didn't. I saw Sakura on my way here so I stopped by her for a while then walked with her to her parents'."

Upon hearing his friend's name, Naruto spoke questionably. "I wonder why Sakura-chan skipped this mission though. She never skips missions. Maybe she's ill or something. Come on teme we better check her out."

Naruto moved his feet in attempt to walk to Sakura's house until he came face to face with Ino who was spreading her hands out to block his way. "No, Naruto, leave her alone. She has things to talk about with her parents. You can talk to her later."

Naruto narrowed his eyes suspiciously, even more certain that something was wrong with his friend. "Sakura-chan tells me and teme everything, so there must be something wrong with her if she hasn't told us. Move, Ino,"

Ino knew what Sakura meant to Sasuke and Naruto. She meant a lot to them, and some would say that they would give their life for her protection, just like she would for them, for that matter. The bond they had as a team was unbreakable.

"There's nothing wrong with her, stupid. Quite the opposite actually," Ino told him in an attempt to stop him from interrupting a family moment. "She took an exam and sh-"

Having realized the word she was about to say, Ino clamped her hands over her mouth, her eyes wide open in fear that she had given away her friend's secret. She was desperately hoping that the idiot didn't get what she had said. Slowly looking at the others behind Naruto, absolutely terrified to make eye contact with either of them, Ino remembered that amongst the group were two geniuses that probably knew what she'd been about to say from the moment she said the letter _e_.

Surprisingly, it was Sasuke who spoke before Naruto. "She did _what_?" He asked with his eyes wide open, revealing an expression bordering on shock.

"Huh? What did Sakura-chan do, teme? I don't get it." Naruto asked.

Sasuke, who were in total disbelief over the fact that such a thing could have happened, didn't have a reply.

Having given up on Sasuke for an answer, Naruto turned around to face the others. Perhaps they were aware of what Ino had meant to say. But by the curious look on all of their faces, apart from one, Naruto doubted they understood either.

"What was that, Ino?" Kiba imposed, a bark from Akamaru followed suit.

Ino on the other hand could not believe that she had just given away her friend's secret. She was aware that she never managed to keep Sakura's secrets very safe and that she had a tendency to blabber them out sooner or later, whether it would be intentional or not. However, this time she _really_ hadn't meant to tell anyone.

Cutting through the tension, they all heard Shikamaru sigh, clearly knowing what had almost been said. "Well, it's not surprising she tried to pass the exam. She is a mastermind after all."

"I still don't get it." Naruto muttered.

She had no other choice but to tell them. And she figured if they found out now, she could tell them not to interrupt Sakura whilst she told her parents. After all, it was the least she could do. But before she could start, she was interrupted by a fuming voice that she thought ran by the lines of jealousy.

"The Anbu examinations were held today, you dobe. I know because my father was one of the conductors, and considering the fact that Shizune was up with the hokage at the tower, I doubt there were any medical exams going on either. You get it now? You moron," Sasuke was livid.

Why? Some might wonder. The reason was simple. The idea of someone on his team beating him through strength was not something he could look at as something good, especially not if it was a _girl._ How Sakura had managed to even consider going into Anbu was beyond him. And what Sasuke dared not to ask was the result of whether she had for that matter managed to get into Anbu or not.

Rapidly turning his face back to Ino, Sasuke was determined to receive the answer to his question. "Well?" He gave her a look that demanded she started talking. "She probably couldn't even get through the first stage." Sasuke had based his assumption from experience. He remembered asking his brother at the age of seven about his entrance to Anbu, and by all means, it wasn't something every shinobi could achieve.

Not that he doubted her abilities. No, no. She certainly managed to keep both him and Naruto in place all the time, and so, he had to give her some credit. But the idea that she could be stronger than him was out of the question.

Sasuke didn't even bother to take a look at Naruto to see how he was taking the news. His eyes were still fixed on the blonde kunoichi. Even though he knew that his pink haired teammate couldn't possibly get into Anbu, he still needed to hear the confirmation.

Ino felt slightly betrayed on Sakura's behalf, especially by Sasuke's disbelief in his own teammate. And Ino, being the _brilliant _friend she was, wasn't going to stand there while he disrespected Sakura's abilities as a kunoichi.

"For your information, Uchiha," Ino spat while ignoring the daggers said man was sending her. "She passed," she added in a simple, harmonic tone of voice.

Hearing muffles of surprise from behind and missing Sasuke's reaction during the process; she gazed down to see a pale faced Naruto who had literally dropped to the ground.

* * *

><p>Skipping her way out the door, and most certainly thinking that this was the happiest she could ever get, she decided that she best tell team seven now too. She was half curious as to why they hadn't visited her when she was at home. Sakura never missed missions, apart from sick days. And during those days they had always made it a habit to check in on her to see if everything was alright.<p>

She was certain that they must have arrived back, considering Ino was back. A bit puzzled, Sakura headed towards the centre of Konoha, thinking that she might see them in town.

After looking around for a good half an hour, and even checking the ramen shop, Naruto's second home, she was beginning to think that perhaps they hadn't arrived back after all. The only person who would know for certain was the Hokage.

Just as she rounded the corner and the gate came into view, Sakura caught a glimpse of a group of people surrounding a body on the floor. Step by step, moving closer, her eyes flared with worry as she started to recognize them all and she ran to the side of the group that she recognized were none other than her friends, all surrounding Naruto.

"What happened to him?" Sakura kneeled down, expertly checking for any vital wounds on the blonde. Relief washed over her when she couldn't find anything wrong with him, but she was still confused as to why he had passed out.

"He went into shock, Sakura," Came a soft, gentle tone from Hinata, who was currently situated just above Naruto's head with a mass amount of worry in her eyes.

"Why did he go into shock?" Sakura's question was mostly aimed at Sasuke, whom Sakura couldn't help but notice was eyeing her from head to toe as if there was something wrong with her.

"Why don't you tell us?" Sasuke replied in a sarcastic manner.

Confused, Sakura decided to try her luck with someone else. Sasuke was obviously annoyed about something but she couldn't worry about that at the moment.

Glancing at the rest of the group above her, she noted they all gave her a simple stare. She also couldn't help but notice the way Ino's eyes were jumping from side to side as if she was avoiding hers.

Sakura was cut from her thoughts as she heard a groan from the figure beneath her. Glancing down, she could see her friend waking up, slowly placing his hands over his eyes in an attempt to block the sunlight. She also couldn't help but notice that he was mumbling her name.

"Sakuraaaa-chan." He continued groaning in a state of comatose, unaware of her presence. "How could you. Sakura-chan," he carried on, shaking his head from side to side, trying to relieve himself.

"Naruto," Sakura took his shoulders in her hands, shaking him slightly. "Naruto, come on. Get up! What happened?"

"What an idiot. Only he would react as extreme as this." Kiba told the group before focusing on Sakura. "Oh, and Sakura," He paused, waiting for her to turn around and look at him. "Well done for making it into Anbu."

It came to Sakura like a slap in the face. Finally understanding why Naruto had fainted, Sakura could only stare at her friends in bewilment, mouth hung wide open. She should have seen it coming. When had Ino ever kept her promises?

Turning to Ino, Sakura could only give her the hardest glare she had ever given and felt a slight sting inside her at the fact that she really could not trust her best friend.

"Sakura, it just slipped out I didn't me-" Sakura cut through Ino's excuse with a shake of her head, which was all that was needed for Ino to understand Sakura's disappointment.

Beneath her, Sakura could feel Naruto starting to wake and starting to sit up, finally coming directly eye to eye with her. Not a word was said for a good minute.

"Sakura-chan, you're alive!" He cut through the disturbing silence by pouncing on her, making them hit the floor.

"Of course I'm alive, Naruto, why wouldn't I be?" Sakura questioned, wondering why he would think such a thing.

Naruto started to get off of her, picking her up in the process and pointed an accusing finger at Ino. "Because Ms Piggy here told us you entered Anbu, which is completely ridiculous, right, Sakura-chan?"

Completely outraged that someone other than Sakura had called her a pig; there was no stopping the blonde kunoichi from beating the loud blonde boy into a pole. However, seconds before the assault, she did end up getting prevented by Shikamaru's Shadow Imitation Technique. "Hey! Only Forehead calls me that, you asshole. How dare you!"

"You shouldn't make lies about Sakura-chan then, should you?" He countered back with equal anger and bloodlust as Ino, but was held back by Hinata.

"It wasn't a lie, you moron. Why don't yo-"

Deciding that enough was enough Sakura cut through the pointless argument. "Would the both of you shut up," She barked out and then faced Ino. "We'll be discussing this later, pig," she told her. "And yes, Naruto," She started with a soft voice "I did enter the exam and I passed," She attempted to throw him a small, reassuring smile at the end. Unknowing of how to react anymore, Naruto glanced down at the ground.

"But, Sakura-chan, what if… what if you get hurt?" he glanced back up, meeting her gaze with worried eyes.

Reaching out, Sakura took him in a tight hug, attempting to reassure him that nothing would happen to her.

"Don't worry about me, Naruto." She replied as she released and looked up at him. "Besides, knowing me, I'm probably going to be doing too much healing rather than fighting," she lied, hoping to give him some sort of comfort. Sakura was most definitely not going to sit in the backline; just healing people.

"Well, sorry for cutting such a _sweet_ team moment, but congratulations from my behalf," Tenten yelled out, rather discreetly aiming it at a still fuming Sasuke.

"Yea, well done, Sakura-chan. I'm so happy for you," The innocent Hinata said while patting Sakura on the shoulder.

Smiling, Sakura turned to them all, trying to avoid the Uchiha amongst them. She could deal with him later. "Thanks guys. Although I wish you didn't have to find out like this. But thanks anyway," she said sincerely.

From the corner of her eyes, Sakura saw Ino asking Sasuke if he was feeling alright, but he merely continued burning holes through Sakura's head.

"Well then, considering that fact that all of you know now, we must celebrate this tonight." Ino jumped in excitedly, clearly wanting to avoid the lecture she was going to receive from Sakura.

"Ino, it's not necessary," Sakura told her, not wanting to make a huge fuss about the matter.

Raising her delicate eyebrow, Ino most certainly wasn't going to avoid having a party tonight. That also gave Sakura an excuse to get out of the house too. "You have no say in this at all. After all, you _did _do this behind out backs, need I remind you."

Choji seemed just as excited as her. "I agree, Ino. Something like this doesn't happen every day. We've just come back from a mission too. It'll be good to have some fun." This then led to an equally excited Naruto at the mention of fun.

Sighing in defeat, Sakura had no choice but to accept. "Okay then, fine, tonight then?"

* * *

><p>After everyone made their leave, Sasuke could not hold it in any longer and let his rage out by starting his Chidori. Not that he would ever attack Sakura, even if he was angry beyond comparison. "You didn't even tell us." He said unflinchingly.<p>

"Look, I'm sorry, okay? I just decided to enter and I did. That's all there is to it." She answered carelessly, thinking it was nothing but jealousy.

"How could you not tell us?" He shouted, making her flinch. Naruto then stepped forward in an attempt to stop something Sasuke would regret. "I thought we were a team, Sakura."

Feeling ashamed, Sakura glanced down in defeat for not thinking about her teammates. "You could have been killed. Getting into Anbu is no walk in the park, Sakura. It's the highest level. We could have helped you. But you obviously don't think of us as a team anymore."

Shooting her eyes back up to see Sasuke about to take his leave, Sakura latched onto his right arm in an attempt to stop him. "Listen, I'm so, so, sorry for not telling you guys. I really am, but I thought that by telling you, you'd both would want to stop me."

Damn right she was, thought Naruto.

"Listen, we might act protective of you, but we would never stop you from doing what you want." Sasuke stated.

Naruto and Sakura could only look at him in pure shock. Had he really just admitted that? Sure, Sasuke was the ice cube and everything in their eyes, but this just showed that even the hardest of ice could melt.

To say that Sasuke and Naruto were protective was a definite understatement in Sakura's book. But Sasuke knew it came as an automatic instinct to look out for her wellbeing. Sure, a part of him had been jealous over the knowledge that she had become Anbu while he had not. But for all he cared, things like these would come and go. What really mattered were relationships and bonds and that was something his brother had taught him.

He was well aware that Sakura would be on the verge of crying any moment now, and he did not want to upset her further. The last time Sasuke had a go at her like this was when she had refused to leave a battlefield, which almost cost her, her life.

No matter how angry he got with her now, it still wouldn't change the fact that she really was his superior now. Based on that thought, Sasuke let out a chuckle, along with a smirk. "So… Anbu, huh,"

Upon hearing that, Naruto let out a long breath he hadn't realized he had been holding.

"Erm, Sasuke? Now that you've calmed down and all, could you possibly get rid of that chidori?" Naruto asked, deciding to chip in now that the mood had calmed down. He wearily eyed the jutsu in front of him, which led to Sasuke and Sakura both chuckling at his attempt at lightening the mood (Not knowing just how serious Naruto actually was).

* * *

><p>The members of team seven made their way towards the address that Ino had shouted out before she had parted from them. It was a well-known establishment that only 'A class shinobi', according to Ino, were allowed to be in.<p>

Sakura would hear about meetings that Tsunade would have to attend to at the establishment arranged by Shizune herself. Her master would, on some occasions, have to entertain her guests; whether they may be a feudal lord or another Kage, and she would always take them to this establishment, since it was a fairly posh place.

"Are we even allowed in here?" Naruto asked no one in particular as he was reading the sign.

Before either of the other two could reply, they saw a bunch of other familiar faces coming towards them from their right. Sighing inwardly, Sakura thought that Ino was blowing this whole thing out of proportion. Why would the blonde make them celebrate in a place like this? She honestly didn't understand.

"Gosh!" Ino came running up to them. "I'm so excited. I've never been in here before," she exclaimed while clapping her hands together.

Walking up to her side Shikamaru looked as indifferent as he always did. "Why am I even here?" He asked, slowly rubbing his hand over his neck.

"I heard the food's good in here." Choji chipped in, expectantly rubbing his belly with that huge smile that never seemed to be absent playing on his lips.

"Of course the food's good, it's the best here, Choji," Ino butted in. "Come on, lets go in already."

"I don't get it. Why is she so excited when you're the one that's Anbu?" Naruto questioned as they walked in behind the ringleader.

Sakura was already flushed in a bright shade of red, clearly not liking this idea at all. "Oh my god, just look at this place, it's full of…" She paused, unable to think of a sensible word.

"Snobs?" Tenten helped out.

"Yes! Just look at them all." She countered, glancing at the area. "This is a place Tsunade goes to. What the hell are _we _doing here?"

"Should have thought about that before you made it into Anbu," Sasuke smirked at Sakura.

"Shut up, Sasuke. And you know what?" Sakura carried on whilst, Ino, Rock Lee, Tenten, Neji, Kiba, Choji, Hinata, Shino and Shikamaru sat down at the table they were led too. "You should really start calling me sensei," Sakura boasted while folding her arms over her chest with a smirk of her own.

Sasuke only gave her a hard glare in response. "Sakura," He said coldly, silently warning her not to push her luck.

Of course, Sakura was only joking; teasing him for the comment he'd made. But it was quite fun to see him on the verge of annoyance as they stood by the door, preoccupied with annoying one and another.

"You know, we should sit down. I'm really hungry-" Naruto started until he was cut off by a voice in the background that he knew very well. Turning around, the three of them came face to face with none other than Kakashi himself.

"What's he doing here?" Naruto asked. "Hey, Ero-Sennin and captain Yamato's here too."

Kakashi waved them over to his table, and they had no choice but to go and say hi. As they gradually made their way forward, the others seated by the same table slowly came into view. They were Genma Shiranui, Shisui Uchiha and Itachi Uchiha.

Sakura involuntarily slowed down her pace when Itachi glanced up to see just who Kakashi had called over. Seeing the face of Itachi Uchiha again hit Sakura like nothing before. He had crushed her hopes as a child. Thinking back, yes, it had been stupid of Sakura to walk around on his land, claiming the Sakura trees, but she was just a child who knew nothing better. To crush her dreams had been one thing, but to call her weak, was another.

His eyes were what struck her so hard. They were cold and unreadable. Sakura had a strange feeling, a feeling which she certainly hadn't missed, the feeling of animosity. His words had haunted her over the years, but at the same time pushed her to prove him wrong.

She had avoided him no matter what the cost, until today. When Mikoto Uchiha would invite Naruto and her over, she would make sure to check whether Itachi was on a mission or not through Tsunade's mission router. She really did detest Itachi, and to see him again after all those years, brought back the hatred she had gathered for him since that day.

What added on to the detestation was that his eyes did not show even a little bit of sorry or regret. It was the same cold eyes as before. To be honest with herself, Sakura had known that she would come face to face with the Uchiha one day. And she had promised herself that when that day came, she would hold her ground and gloat about how strong she had become, but that was quite the contrary to what she was feeling right now. She didn't know why, but a part of her also felt sad and so, she was holding every bit of strength to not let her tears get the best of her.

Having glanced up at the people Kakashi was communicating with, Itachi found it quite amusing that his brother was amongst the group. He found it more amusing that Sasuke was actually in a place such as this. Although he, himself, wasn't the type to come to places like these, he did hear from his cousin that it was a fairly decent place. Another thing that caught his eye was the people he was there with. The jinchuuriki, whom Itachi mentally labelled as rude and loud since the moment Sasuke had introduced them, was there, and when glancing at the female member of the group, Itachi couldn't help but feel as if he had seen her somewhere before. She seemed quite known to him, but he just couldn't quite put his finger on why. Not thinking too much about it, he carried on with the plate in front of him whilst they approached.

"Fancy seeing you three here," Kakashi greeted humbly.

"You too. What are you doing here?" Naruto replied.

"What could we possibly be doing at a place like this, Naruto?" Jiraiya retorted.

"I don't even want to know what _you're_ doing here, Ero-Sennin," Naruto contradicted.

Sakura stood there, feeling every bit of enthusiasm leave her body, whilst her eyes refused to leave the floor. She wasn't even aware of the conversation surrounding her.

"So, Sasuke-_chan_ finally introduces us to his anonymous third teammate. No wonder you were hiding her," Shisui winked at Sasuke.

Sasuke glared at Shisui, sending him a look that clearly read _I will kill you_. Snickering, Shisui decided to leave it at that, he could always tease Sasuke some other time.

"She seems out of it though," Genma pointed out.

Upon hearing that, Sasuke turned around to see that Sakura was not paying attention to either of the two conversations that were present, her eyes still directed at the floor. He could clearly see that Naruto was getting excited about something though as he was waving his arms up and down.

"And so, we decided to celebrate here," Sasuke picked up from Naruto, completely having missed the point he was trying to make.

"What are you celebrating?" Yamato asked while picking up his chopsticks.

"Sakura's entrance into Anbu of course," Naruto told them, obviously content with the idea now.

Upon hearing that, Kakashi tried hard to not choke on the bite he was chewing, while Yamato could barely hold onto the chopsticks that held his rice. The others, who had heard Naruto's statement, could only stare at the girl in front of them. Sakura was still looking down at something on the floor while chewing on her lip, seeming to be lost in deep thoughts. Sasuke elbowed the pinkette, hinting that she better start talking since everyone's stares were getting quite intimidating.

"Huh? What?" She glanced at Sasuke, but he only rolled his eyes at the group in front of him.

Still confused, Sakura glanced at Kakashi, Yamato and Jiraiya, as the others were of no interest to her.

"You're Anbu now, Sakura?" Yamato asked with his eyes wide open in disbelief.

Puzzled as to how they had found out, she didn't have to look far to see a wide grin plastered on Naruto's face. Frowning, she answered them appropriately with the truth.

"And you never thought about telling your sensei this?" Kakashi asked in what was hinted as a genuinely hurt tone.

"Well, if I told you, you would have opposed, just like these two idiots here," Sakura said while pointing towards Sasuke and Naruto.

"And for good reason too." Kakashi said.

He wasn't particularly pleased with the idea of Sakura being Anbu. She was the last person he would expect to get into Anbu from his team. He himself had only lasted a few years and _he_ was the son of _Konoha's White Fang_.

Itachi raised an eyebrow upon hearing his brother being called an idiot. Sasuke was not the one to be okay with being insulted.

"Not even _I _could get into Anbu first time around," She heard Yamato mumble to himself.

Turning around to the rest of the table, dead set to see _his_ reaction; it frustrated Sakura even more when he didn't look the tiniest bit interested while the others at the table were congratulating her. Sakura genuinely could not help the glare that was upon her face which she directed at Itachi, head on.

Itachi, on the other hand, could not understand why he was being glared at with such hatred. He really did not understand what her problem was. He could easily glare at her too, but he had no reason to. Was she perhaps a fan girl he had rejected from years ago?

The rest of them found themselves in-between an intense vibe. Were they acquainted in some way? Sasuke, the most puzzled amongst them, _really_ wanted to know what the problem here was. Why was Sakura looking at his brother as if she wanted to rip him apart? He could hear her grinding her teeth together.

Kakashi was the one who, with a feeble attempt, tried to cut through the intense staring. "I'm extremely proud of you, Sakura. Well done. And you deserve extra praise for beating those two to it as well."

Both Naruto and Sasuke chuckled upon hearing that statement. "As my student, Naruto, I was hoping you'd make it first. You need more training," Jiraiya eyed the boy, but just as Naruto was about to rant about it, a loud burst of laughter came from the other end of the table where Shisui and Genma were seated.

"I can't believe Sasuke got beaten by a girl!" Shisui cried out.

The two boys would have reacted to the older men's inappropriate laughter and comment, which was nothing else than an attempt to annoy them, but Sakura knew that this would possibly end up in a fight and so, she tried changing the subject.

"So, are you guys here on a special occasion?" Sakura finally broke her glaring contest with the Uchiha and directed her attention back to Kakashi.

Just as Kakashi was going to answer, he was rudely interrupted by Shisui.

"Well, its Itachi's birthday. And being the boring guy he is, we decided to lighten up his birthday a little by celebrating it," Shisui expressed while locking his arm around Itachi's neck. "But I guess today calls for a double celebration on both yours and Itachi's behalf.

Turning her attention to Itachi, Sakura had doubted her day could have gotten worse… until this very moment. It was his birthday and he was sat here, clearly enjoying himself. What right did he have to be happy? He had ruined her happiness on her birthday years ago. The irony of their meeting left Sakura astonished. On her birthday he had become Anbu, and now on his birthday, she had become Anbu. Her mood went from bad to worse. She could only look at him through blurry eyes.

How Sasuke had managed to choke on his own spit upon hearing that it was his brother's birthday, was beyond interest. Come to think of it, Sasuke hadn't remembered his brother's birthday for the past few years since his mother stopped celebrating it. She knew Itachi wasn't big on celebrating so she would only bake a small cake enough for the four of them, but she hadn't done that in a while, since Itachi would usually go on missions to avoid the whole thing. So, it was normal for Sasuke to not remember such a thing, but he sure as hell wasn't going to make it obvious.

"So, Sasuke-_chan,_" Shisui started; talking in a provoking slimy tone aimed at Sasuke, who loathed being called chan. "What have you gotten your big brother?" Shisui added while placing his hands beneath his chin.

Sasuke was not expecting that. "Hn."

"Well? Or did you forget?" He asked, clearly not in the mood to let go of the subject since he had managed to corner the younger Uchiha.

Sasuke was well aware that Shisui's aim here was nothing more but to provoke him. When Shisui could find Itachi, his brother would have to put up with Shisui, and when he found Sasuke -it was his turn. And it was obviously his turn at the moment. But Sasuke was not the one to give up so easily.

"We're not kids anymore, Shisui, and no, I did not forget," Sasuke bitterly resorted, leaving no room for a counter.

Naruto chuckled at this as he could read his best friend's expression to interpret that he didn't know it was his birthday, but let him have the benefit of the doubt. Not that he had any other choice when Sasuke was glaring daggers at him.

Sakura was finding it really difficult to not collapse right then and there. Her heart was physically hurting. It pained her to see that Itachi didn't even know who she was and that he was unaware of the damage he had caused her childhood. He was just looking back at her with no expression at all. She was finding it really difficult to hold back her tears. She had to get out of there.

Without a word to anyone, Sakura unconsciously waved a hand at Kakashi, but as she turned around, she was unable to hold back the tear that rolled down her face. She could only hope that no one saw and that Naruto would cover her for her rude behaviour.

"Well, we better get going too. See you guys later." And with that the two boys followed Sakura back to the table were Ino and the rest of them were situated at.

They had clearly been gone a long time seeing as Ino was completely out of it already and everyone else was just finishing their plates. They greeted them back; asking what took them so long, but Sakura's enthusiasm and happiness was simply non-existent anymore. She didn't have the willpower to talk, let alone carry this day on.

"Sakura, is something wrong?" Hinata asked with a worried expression on her face.

Sakura looked up; reassuring her with a smile that nothing was wrong and that she was simply tired from having just passed her exam. Sakura was a good actor, she gave herself that, but she didn't want to ruin their day either. They were enjoying themselves and she wasn't selfish enough to ruin their day too.

A few minutes passed but Sakura could no longer hold on to this façade. She just couldn't bare the idea of him being in the same building as her, enjoying himself, and not even remembering who she was. Excusing herself to the bathroom with the intention of leaving the building didn't seem to be too difficult; as Hinata and Tenten were dealing with a drunken Ino and the boys were arguing about whose jutsu was better.

Carefully making her way out the door, Sakura just wanted to see his face again with the thought that perhaps he had remembered who she was and was feeling some sort of remorse as any human being with a conscious would feel. But there was nothing. She saw him sat where he was in deep thought, and that was enough to convince Sakura that he really was heartless.

Turning around, she walked out through the door and made her way towards her home.

* * *

><p>Phew can't believe this is finally over! I have to thank bananafrappe for beta-ing this for me. You are no doubt an inspiration to all writers with your skills.<p>

Anyhow I actually have half of the next chapter ready, but I will only post it knowing that you guys want me too, so that requires… REVIEWS!

Take care all.

In addition to this I would like to thank Challa for sparing time to check over any missed mistakes. Thank you very much!


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